Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing EP 176 - Nurturing Opportunity with Nadine Williams

Feb 5, 2021

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In this episode Mark interviews Nadine Williams, a storyteller, a writer, a poet, keynote speaker and entrepreneur.

Prior to the interview Mark shares some recent personal comments, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation, Mark and Nadine talk about:

How being a writer, speaker, and poet was something that Nadine stumbled upon after life threw her some curve balls
The way that writing became therapy
Nadine's career in construction and a trade show encounter that led to her first published article
The idea of a book being the result of the marriage between a writer and her pen
Nadine's use of the term "tears to ink" to describe the earliest therapeutic writing she had done
The early reading Nadine did as a child, and the oral storytelling tradition she grew up with
The experience of opening up for a talk that Michelle Obama did in Toronto in 2017
The poem "Us Women" that Nadine read for the Obama event, which was originally the poem "Us Africans" that she re-adapted
A custom line thrown in to page homage to Michelle Obama specifically
What Nadine learned from an error made at that event
The art of performance poetry and how all of Nadine's writing has that element of performance
The way that an entire poem can come from a single word
The significant event that led Nadine into speaking at libraries and schools
The art installations and nominations that Nadine was involved in
Advice that Nadine would offer to beginning writers
Some of the issues we have in Canada related to intolerance and people not being aware of their prejudices and biases
Nadine's 2021 Black History Month Theme - "Nurturing Hope through Allyship"
And more...

After the interview, Mark reflects on Nadine's ability to adapt and re-adapt both creatively and in an entrepreneurial way.

Links of Interest

Nadine Williams is an avid child reader, turned wordsmith, turned working Artist. She is a storyteller, a writer, a poet, an arts educator, a Keynote Speaker and host workshop Facilitator, a visual artist, and entrepreneur.

Nadine is the author of the books The Culmination of Marriage Between Me and My Pen, Love Rocks, With This Pen I Do Tell, and Pen on Fyah.